Elizabeth's picture

Feature Story Picture:
http://www.nppa.org/competitions/best_of_still_photojournalism/2004/winners/still/MFS/1st_2772_mental

or

http://www.nppa.org/competitions/best_of_still_photojournalism/2004/winners/still/index.cfm?category=MFS&place=1st&image=3

Photographer: John Stanmeyer, VII for Time Magazine

The bright red and green colors first caught my eye for this image. I thought it looked like a photo for an upbeat story. However, when I looked more carefully, it showed a deep sadness.

The skewed angle of the shot suggests madness, imbalance. The little child curled in the corner further expresses the desolation of this place. Then there were the dark shadows of two other children. The image speaks to me of innocent children in a mean, dark abyss.

According to the caption, it is a mental hospital in Karachi, Pakistan. Little boys live there, seemingly abandoned by the outside world. They don't even have shoes or beds.